


Halloween Carnival

by Danii_Girl



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer
Genre: Halloween!5sos, daddy!5sos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-12
Updated: 2015-10-12
Packaged: 2018-04-26 03:08:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4987777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Danii_Girl/pseuds/Danii_Girl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Originally posted on my tumblr cliffordchick</p>
    </blockquote>





	Halloween Carnival

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on my tumblr cliffordchick

Halloween was never a big holiday for Calum and you until you had children. It was only then were the two of you thrust into the commercialism that was Halloween. And while you didn’t necessarily understand how the holiday came to be you just couldn’t help but dress your kids up in adorable outfits and watch them parade around the neighborhood for free candy.

When your twins started school, the dynamic of Halloween quickly changed. No longer, were you and Calum responsible for picking out adorable matching costumes for them; instead, they were dragging you to the Halloween store to pick out their own costumes. On top of that, trick-or-treating and pumpkin carving wasn’t the only Halloween activities to participate in anymore. Now, a school carnival was added to the madness leaving Calum and you to increase your wine consumption just to keep up with your energetic kids.

“So what’s at this festival?” you asked your six year olds.

“There’s a costume contest,” you daughter chirped.

“And a pumpkin carving contest,” you son chimed in.

“And you get to see all the projects we’ve been working on in class.”

“Plus there’s games and foods to buy and the classrooms are giving out treats!”

“Sounds like you two are excited,” you smiled.

The twins had barely stopped talking about the carnival since they got home from school that afternoon. From what you gathered, all the kindergartners were very excited about the possibility of winning a ribbon from one of the contest, your twins included.

“Daddy,” you son sung, “do you think we can enter a pumpkin into the contest?”

“Of course, bud. We can make the meanest looking pumpkin there is.”

“Mommy,” your daughter mimicked, “can you help me with the costume contest?”

“I’d love to, doll.”

For the next week Calum and you were busy in all things Halloween related. Calum took your son to the pumpkin patch while you took your daughter to the costume store. You worked on sewing the perfect princess costume while Calum worked on scooping all the guts out of the giant pumpkin he’d bought. And while the two of you were working, your children were busy planning out where they should go on Halloween, completely forgetting that the school carnival came before the actual Halloween.

By the time the carnival rolled around the two of you were exhausted but despite it all the two of you were as excited for the carnival as the children. Calum had put a lot of work into the pumpkin and you had worked endlessly on your daughter’s costume. There was no way either of the kids were walking home without a ribbon. Not to mention, you were eager to tour the kindergarten classroom and see all the artwork the kids had been working on, leaving their nice clothes stained orange with paint. 

The two of you decided to let your children dictate the evening since it was their event. The first stop being the pumpkin drop off so Calum didn’t have to lug the thirty pound pumpkin around the whole school. And while there were some pretty amazing pumpkins – most definitely not done by grade school kids, Calum and your son’s was definitely the best. The next stop was the costume table, where you filled out the form for your daughter while she got her picture taken so the judges, the teachers, could review her costume while she had fun.

After all contests were entered, the kids tugged Calum and you towards their home away from home. You had only been in the classroom a handful of times since they started school and all of those times the room was bare, the walls in the midst of getting redecorated with art. This time, however, every wall was covered in Halloween themed projects. From pumpkin thumb print pictures to paper bag ghosts, the classroom was definitely in the Halloween spirit. You could barely keep up with the kids who were tugging you in all different directions excited to show you their hard work.

“Wow bud, that’s a very scary ghost,” you said, making a scared face causing him to laugh.

Across the room, Calum was with your daughter who was explaining to her father the story behind her very detailed thumb print pumpkin patch art piece.

“And that one’s you, and that one’s mommy,” she said, pointing to the two bigger pumpkins, clearly the product of her thumb.

“And the little ones are you and your brother right?” Calum asked.

“Yeah!” she shouted. “Ms. A let me use my pinkie for those since we’re little!”

“It’s very pretty princess.”

You followed your son over to where Calum and your daughter were so he could show you his picture too. After a few more circles around the small classroom, and a quick chat with their teacher (who praised you for having the patience to deal with them everyday) the kids were pulling you outside again. 

With a half an hour before the contest winners would be announced, the kids decided that they would save trick-or-treating for actual Halloween, claiming they’d get more candy then, and instead, decided that they would test their luck with the various carnival games set up on the playground. 

First up, the hacky sack toss. Your son was first up and made all three hacky sacks go through the respective holes on the spider board, your daughter was also successful. Each of them earning a small pumpkin plush toy, something they definitely did not need but tonight was not the night to complain. 

Next, was the cake walk. It was a game neither Calum nor you were familiar with but apparently was very popular amongst the grade school children. And you quickly learned why. It was simple, like musical chairs but instead of chairs it was paper plates with numbers on them. Each plate number corresponded with a raffle ticket and if your number was called you got to pick a cake off the table. Of course, each of your children won forcing you to take home two very large cakes. 

There was only a few minutes left until the winners were revealed and while you wanted to set up base at one of the picnic tables close to the stage to watch, your daughter had other plans. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted the one carnival game Calum and you had been avoiding all night. 

The fish toss. 

Toss a ball into a fish tank and win a fish. It was every parent’s nightmare and yet every child’s dream. And despite your annoyance with having to take care of a fish that was most likely going to die, you just couldn’t disappoint the tiny girl in front of you. So with your permission, Calum and her set off for the fish toss while your son hung out with you, claiming that fish were stupid and he’d rather have a dog. He definitely took after his father.

“Daddy we have to win the fish!” your daughter whined. “Look how cute she is! It looks like Nemo, I’m gonna call it Pumpkin though ‘cause it’s Halloween!” 

Of course, every fish looked like Nemo to Calum but he wasn’t about to tell that to his daughter. Instead, he stood behind her, encouraging her to toss the ball into the fish tank and cheering her up when she missed. After five failed attempts and a teary eyed child, Calum decided it was his turn to try. He knew you’d be mad about stepping in to win the stupid fish but he couldn’t bare to see his little girl cry. And after a few more failed attempts – seven according to his daughter – little Pumpkin and her fish tank were in the hands of his very eager daughter. 

“Look what daddy won!” she shouted when she got to where you were seated. 

“I thought you were supposed to win it?” you asked, glaring at Calum.

“I was but I wasn’t any good,” she pouted. “So daddy tried and tried and tried and then he won!” 

“Well then, I guess the fish will be daddy and your thing then, yeah? He can take you to the pet store tonight to get the bowl and food for your fish.” 

And while Calum was unamused that you had just thrust the responsibility of a fish on him, it was all worth it to see his little girl happy. The night turned out even better when the winner for best pumpkin was announced and your son, and Calum, had won. Your son ran onstage to grab his first place ribbon, proudly holding it up while standing next to the enormous pumpkin. As for your daughter, she won second place for her costume – something that irritated you – but she was okay with it. 

“Pumpkin is a better prize than a ribbon anyway mommy,” she said, giving you a big hug despite her loss. 

By the time Calum and your head’s hit the pillow that night you were exhausted. Each of you almost too tired to share your nightly glass of wine, but not tired enough to pass it up. 

“I think the kids had fun tonight,” Calum offered. 

“What about you? You seemed really into that fish toss game,” you teased. 

“I had to win the fish for her! You should have seen how sad she was when she lost.” 

“Okay, but you’re going to be the one to tell her that Pumpkin can’t go trick-or-treating with her tomorrow night. She’s already talking about decorating the bowl to match her princess outfit.” 

“Fine, but you’re in charge when the thing dies.” 

“Deal,” you smiled, sealing the deal with wine tainted kiss. 

Calum and you may not have been Halloween people before you had children but now that you had been blessed with two gorgeous children you didn’t know how you hadn’t had celebrated Halloween all those years before. No matter how tired they made you, holidays with your twins and Calum quickly became the moments you lived for. Especially when they were as memorable as your daughter wheeling around a terrified fish in a wagon around the neighborhood, because Calum just couldn’t say no.


End file.
